“While the ‘opera’ label for contemporary indie and rock albums often just boils down to pretension on part of the musician, Ben Lear fully earns it with Lillian, which tells a complete, poignant story: his protagonist, watching his sleeping lover, fears that she’ll drift away from him, joining all the things he’s lost in his life, which he thinks have ended up floating in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Desperate, he sets off on a sea voyage to the trash gyre, where he plans to reclaim what he’s lost—but what he finds along the way, and once he reaches the patch, trigger self-discoveries beyond what he anticipated.” (source)
I can’t believe I haven’t preached the good word of Lillian: A Folk Opera here before, but now’s the time. It’s weird and poetic and fantastical, and you can listen to it all on Bandcamp!
